Water heater tanks range in size, typically from 40-50 gallon tanks to 65-80 gallon tanks for residential service and even larger capacities are used for commercial service. As the size of the tank increases, the lateral distance between the inlet cold water tube and the exit hot water tube increases. This lateral distance may also change depending on the manufacturer of the hot water tank.
Typically, the inlet cold water supply and outlet hot water exit tubes are fixedly installed within a basement or lower level of a residence. In light of the fact that water heaters have finite lifetimes, their replacement often entails reconfiguring the inlet and outlet tubes through the use of elbows and custom-cut lengths of pipe to match the separation of the tubes of the tank. This impedes the rapid installation of new water heaters and typically requires the use of a professional to install the new tank.
More significantly, In 1992, the United States Environmental Protection Agency adopted a standard for lead and copper in municipal drinking water. The standard sets action levels for lead and copper in standing samples collected from faucets with the highest risk for elevated lead and copper levels. The action level for lead is 15.mu.g/liter of water; the action level for copper is 1.3 mg/liter of water. The source of these and other metals in drinking water is primarily corrosion of plumbing system components, which include copper and lead-based solder as well as carbon steel and brass. Current anticorrosion additives, which include phosphate salts and/or zinc salts, have been in use for many years, but do not always provide adequate protection. There remains a need for improved corrosion inhibitors which are not themselves likely to present a health hazard when added to water, and more specifically, there remains a need for combining an all-plastic inner liner water conduit with the strength of copper tubing.
The Prior Art has yet to identify a flexible polymer-lined plumbing connector which eliminates the need for custom fitting of inlet and outlet copper tubes as well as minimizes corrosion of plumbing system components, thereby enabling the system to be in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for copper ions in potable water.